Things that have happened:
My family visited me for Christmas. I love those people so much. They are my people. My people don’t like snails though. And we are the farthest thing from posh that I could imagine. So my family in Paris was quite an experience. I pretty much just laughed for those entire two days. My family also decided that while we were in Neuchatel, the only place they wanted to hangout was my room. Not my apartment, just my room.
Rachel Dow came to visit the same day that my family left. Which was a godsend bc I would have had a mental breakdown. Rach is the perfect person for me to travel with bc she plans the entire day around food. All I had to do was pay for my food and be entertaining. We went to Zurich, Luzern, a mountaintop in Engelberg, and spent New Years at a cabaret club in Neuch. Didn’t see that one coming, did ya? Me either. She also brought me Philz Coffee and for that (among countless other things she/her family did for me over the past 4 years) I owe her tremendously.
Z broke her finger blocking over a month ago and has not missed a single practice.
Speaking of hands, I finally got a manicure. It cost me half my salary. And then I peeled off the gel and now my nails are a wreck and break as soon as they clear my nail bed.
We went to Cyprus for the CEV Cup. Cyprus is not part of Greece. I was almost detained bc I forgot my work visa. To be honest, I didn’t forget it, I thought it was the piece of paper in my passport and that the little card that is in fact my work visa…was my bus pass. So.
In the same day that I was almost thrown in international jail for being an idiot, I also choked on rice (like thought I was going to die choke, not like cough cough oh how embarrassing choke) and fell out of the shower. This entire day was one of the more stressful ones of my life. Beautiful country though.
Tabea was kind (dumb) enough to invite me and Mic to her house near Zermatt on one of our days off. She took us across a swinging bridge (yay heights.) and to a naked spa. This was my first experience with
a naked spa and frankly, I’ve never felt less self-conscious. When it is 5 billion degrees in the sauna, you just don’t give a shit.
I went to the tanning bed for the first time in January and silently cried/counted down the seconds until it was over bc the machine looked like it was about to blast off the Mars at any second. I took Mic the next week bc I knew she would be more nervous that me, which calms me down for some reason. Lol sorry. Sidenote: I did not go to the tanning bed to get tan, I went bc the sun was actually not visible for 2 months and I was losing it.
We played a team called Lugano early January and lost in 4. They’re on the border of Italy and it’s our longest road trip (yes I know German league people, it’s not actually a long trip). But anyways, this was the first match I’ve ever been a part of where the ref completely lost control of the game. I have never seen anything like this. People were losing their minds. There were 7 people playing on Lugano’s court at one point. It was wild.
Z’s mom/brother/brother’s best friend visited us! Which meant that I got to hear Spanish around the apartment and eat some of her mom’s cooking. There is nothing like coming home from practice to seeing a plate in the fridge with your name on it.
Mic’s birthday. We dragged out the celebration for a few days. We also ate at the same Mexican restaurant three times that week bc she misses Taco Bell. I have my own thoughts about Taco Bell, but it was her birthday so I shut my mouth.
During Mic’s week of birthday celebration, we learned how to salsa. I have since forgotten how, but I laughed a lot that night. Moni is the shiest on our team, so obviously she was the first to get dragged onto the floor by an overly enthusiastic man. Highly entertaining.
I got to see Hannah Tapp and Lexi Dannimiller bc they play for Schwerin, the team that we played in the quarters of the CEV Cup. Say Schwerin with every possible pronunciation you can think of and I guarantee you won’t have said it right once.
Scott Kervorken drove 2 hours to hang out for a little while after that game and I love him so much for it. Thank you for being the nicest/tallest/goofiest.
I lost my phone for a week. It had my license and Swiss debit card in the case. A friend of a friend found it on top of a mirror in the bathroom of the club I was at SEVEN DAYS LATER. Oops. I have used up all my good karma.
Inky used her charm and good looks to get herself a free trip to Zurich, so I got to hang out with her for a day. She managed to annoy me within 15 mins and we spent a full HOUR trying to read a menu in German only to discover that there was an English one on the counter. I also paid $70 for a cab ride that would have been a $2 tram ride. Inky said to consider this “paying for my urban education.” We went to dinner with Foluke that night and I pretended that I wasn’t giddy sitting with two of the best middles/people in the world all night.
My cousin and his wife (is this called a ‘cousin-in-law’?) visited Munich and came to see me for a day on their way back to the US. Shoutout the Kyle and Aubree, thank you for paying for the best Thai food I’ve ever had. (I’m aware that Switz prob doesn’t have the best Thai food in the world, that is probably found in Thailand, but it was pretty good y’all…) Also, when your house is finished I would like to come hangout/play with the puppies, thnx.
Z, Mic, and I went on a roadtrip to Grindelwald. We went on this thing called the Cliff Walk. I don’t know how to accurately communicate my fear during this time. Mic was legit running around on the millimeters of metal between us and a freefall, Z was silently smiling/gritting her teeth, and I was crying but no one noticed. It was an incredible experience and I’ll never do it again.
Last weekend, I demanded brunch. On a Saturday. Which isn’t really a thing here. But I found a place and me, Mic, and Tabea went. It was a super cute restaurant with big plushy chairs and we stayed for 4 hours. During these 4 hours I ate an entire loaf of break. It wasn’t really bc I wanted the bread though, I really just needed a vehicle to eat the jam and honey that they gave us. That brunch was a spiritual experience and I’ll be going back.
The Americans on the team celebrated the Superbowl. We made ourselves a hefty spread of snacks and beer. Thoroughly enjoyed the game until about 3 am, when everyone passed out. This also happened to be the start of the 4th quarter. So the greatest comeback of all time? Didn’t see it.
We went to a light show in Morat with Jo and Salome in February. I spent most of the night giggling at the little kids bundled up so tight they couldn’t bend their knees/elbows and found myself a bratwurst, so I had a great time. There were also lanterns floating on the lake like in Tangled, which Mic and I used as an opportunity to serenade each other with “and at last I seeeeee the light.”
So the game that we played at Schwerin was…not my best performance. I tried really hard to not suck as bad as I was sucking, but sometimes you just cannot do anything right. I was pretty upset afterwards and upon reaching the hotel wifi found that a German fan had tweeted at me telling me that this was not my best game and that I could play better. I consider it a testament to maturing and also my father telling me not to do anything stupid that I only responded with, “agreed sir, tomorrow is a new day.” PSA: don’t tweet at people when you know that they know they messed up. THEY KNOW.
At some point the Americans went up the mountain to Chasseral and this particular day happened to taking a turn for cold and icy right as the sun set and we were leaving. We had chosen to take Mic’s sketchy ass car so tension was high on the drive down. Also the snow was higher than the car. Mic randomly screeched on a turn bc she thought it would be funny and I almost murdered her.
Two weeks ago, we decided to switch it up and do a crossfit circuit before our regular lift one day. The circuit was mostly burpees. I swear I saw the light of heaven. Crossfit sucks.
Thea and I are going to London whenever our season in over and I can’t FRICKIN (@mic) wait. Thea has generally made life funnier these past three months, mostly by being the most dramatic person I know. Thank you Thea, for your never-ending sassy/spicy self.
Mic attempted to impale me during our last match of regular season while I was covering a ball. The first thought I had when she flailed her bony ass elbow into my sternum was ‘how the eff did I just get stabbed in the middle of a match?’
We finished the regular season in 4th place by some miracle after realllllly struggling our way through January. Held on for dear life. Playoffs start this weekend!!
My mom and I gave up sweets for Lent. Pray for me.
